Stress and family functioning among caregivers of persons with Parkinson's disease.

This study investigated components of caregiving that cause distress among Parkinson's caregivers and explored relationships between stress and family functioning. Fifty caregivers completed two self-report measures designed to assess caregiver stress and characteristics of the family environment. Differences in terms of family environment were found between caregivers who reported high and low stress. Certain aspects of caregiving were reported to be more distressing than others, and demographic characteristics were related to family functioning. Duration of the caregiving was not related to stress and there were no differences in family environment based on duration. These results have implications for clinical practice and the development of interventions for Parkinson's caregivers.